The Howling Dark, Part 6

Author's Note: Yesterday was Apex's Third Birthday. Time Has Really Flown By and While I'm Not As Far As Long As I'd Like To Be I Must Say I Am Proud of How My Story Has Turned Out. I Am Thankful For All The Friends I've Made on CHOYA and All The Positive Feedback I've Received. Thank You Everyone For Your Support and I Hope You'll Continue To Read and Enjoy My Story.

I Hope Everyone Has A Happy New Year and I Hope You All Enjoy The New Chapter!

Aaron's Doppelganger looked down at its feet and saw The Priest was gone. A visible shudder traveled through its rippling body and it sniffed the air dismissively before looking around.

The Pirate Captain had retrieved his comrade seconds before the volley had landed and was now at the side of The Goddess who was attempting to heal him with her power., "He is still weak from the battle earlier...," The Goddess proclaimed., "Your sword pierced one of his hearts... I fear he may die."

The Pirate's face hardened as he placed a much larger and visibly webbed hand over hers which were glowing with a soft golden light., "Fear not My Lady he is strong. Our kind have never died easy and I do not see it happening now... Just focus on healing what you can and let this stubborn bastard do the rest."

The Goddess visibly relaxed and she gave her fellow protector a warm smile before looking back to The Priest whose sweat drenched face was getting paler by the second, The glow from her hands grew in intensity, spreading over The Priest's entire body which shook ever so slightly.

While the colorfully dressed Pirate supported his Female Comrade, she concentrated all of her power to save The Priest's Life.

Meanwhile, Aaron's Doppelganger found itself surrounded by three strange figures which had encircled it at a distance.

All three of these strange newcomers were dressed in nearly identical black robes adorned with red clouds and at least two of them had pale expressionless faces which were heavily pierced. There were two Men and a Woman who stood between the two Men. She had long red hair while the Man to her left was bald save for the wicked-looking conical metal spikes sticking out of his skull. The last Man was a mystery, It was obvious from his build that he was Male but his face was obscured by a hood that cast a nearly impenetrable shadow over his face but the same eerie eyes as the other two stared back out of the deep dark.

Their attire and their ashen skin with its numerous piercings were indeed peculiar but it was their eyes that were by far the strangest thing about them... The sclerae and irides were a deep crimson with a rippling pattern of concentric circles spreading over the entirety of each eye and nine comma-shaped tomoe.

Aaron's Doppelganger straightened and carefully scrutinized each of the three black-clad warriors surrounding him.

"I See.. So you've summoned more toys for me to play with.," "But what's this?... I only see three of the ten roads.," The Doppelganger cackled with amusement.

The three stood at a equal distance from Aaron's Doppelganger, still and unmoving like a trio of intimidating statues as they watched everything with unblinking eyes. Aaron could do nothing but look on in stunned silence as he tried not to shiver from the chilling aura the three new fighters radiated since they appeared.

Aaron was so focused on what was happening in front of him that he didn't even register the loud clank of metal that was approaching him from the side until the source of the sound was right next to him. Someone clad in snow white and silver colored armor stepped out of the shadows. They were tall... Over six feet and the armor they wore was truly imposing. It would be difficult to describe if someone tried to put it into words except to say that the over all look was not only majestic but it called to mind similarities between a wolf and a lion especially the helmet which was wolf-like in its design with an almost lion-like mane of purest white.

Aaron was startled by The Knight's sudden appearance and even more surprised when The Knight removed their helmet, revealing an even more shocking sight. Aaron couldn't believe his eyes... The Knight had the same dark hair, the same pale skin and the same unsettling eyes. The resemblance was uncanny. He was obviously a few decades older than Aaron but there was little doubt that they were related.

The Knight regarded Aaron for a moment before giving a brief but respectful bow, much to his shock then he turned his attention to where The Goddess and Pirate Captain were kneeling, bent over The Priest whose condition was quite dire. Not far from where they were attending The Priest was the **** form of a White-Haired Youth who lay shivering in the dark, Shadows moving and shifting all around him.

Without a word, The Knight stepped past a mystified Aaron and approached his fellows with a steady, unhurried gait. When he reached them, his helmet nestled under his arm, he gave them a short but no less respectful bow than the one he had accorded Aaron., "I'm Sorry Brothers, I'm Sorry Sister but I was the only one of our Brothers and Sisters able to pierce the barrier around the core. I'm afraid I won't be much help... I'm still too weak to manifest my true strength.," The Knight offered in a somber but still dignified medieval-sounding accent.

"We'll take any help we can get right now...," The Pirate replied., "... Even from a Roundie like you."

The Knight smiled softly at his friend's obvious teasing before his handsome face returned to a more neutral expression., "I can barely maintain my Saishogan as it is... I can't even use Amaterasu or Izanagi so I could only summon Chikushōdō, Shuradō and Tagaidō of The Jigoku Heno Juu no Dou to help us. I hope its enough."

As The Knight stood tall, His eyes flickered and shifted between numerous odd patterns and colors, and mixtures of the like before settling on a peculiar mix of greyish white sclerae and enlarged irides with a distinct rippling pattern of concentric circles and multiple comma-like Tomoe. His eyes were similar to those of the three surrounding Aaron's Doppelganger but The Supreme Aura of Dominance and Raw Unadulterated Power that emanated from them was on a completely different level.

"I suppose it will have to do.," The Pirate Captain sighed.

The Knight inhaled sharply and spoke in a voice too quiet to be heard but the moment he finished speaking, the three figures surrounding Aaron's Doppelganger sprung into action. The first to attack was the largest of the three... the bald one with black iron spikes protruding from all over his skull called Shuradō followed by the hooded Tagaidō then the petite and buxom Chikushōdō.

Shuradō thrust out his arms, his sleeves fluttering as numerous scythes attached to chains shot out from his left sleeve and encircled Aaron's Doppelganger while a volley of missiles emerged from his right, heading directly for the restrained Doppelganger.

At the same time, Chikushōdō began hurling kunai after kunai at her struggling foe while the enigmatic Tagaidō reached into his robes and removed a longer than average Katana with a nearly pure black blade save for a slight red glow at its finely-honed edge and raised it high into the air.

The Doppelganger managed to break the chains restricting its movements but not in time to avoid the kunai and missiles closing in on it from both sides. The kunai impacted a millisecond before Shuradō's missiles but they were no less dangerous given that they were tipped with several kinds of deadly poison and at each end was attached a series of paper bombs. The simultaneous explosion of multiple paper bombs was enough to cause Aaron's Doppelganger to lurch in the opposite direction and collide forcefully with the missiles which engulfed the entire area in scorching hellfire moments later.

The sound of agonized wailing and inhuman screeches filled the burning air but the onslaught wasn't over by a long shot... Tagaidō had yet to launch an attack and as if the moment he had waited for had finally come, Tagaidō reached up with his other hand and gripped the handle of his Katana tightly, "The Demonic Sword Technique of The Nine Hells:," Tagaidō spoke in a harsh whisper before bringing the sword down with incredible ****, "Seventh Form - The Sword of Blunt Impact!"

The technique might have appeared simple at first glance but it released a unique and intense form of killing intent... It was dense, heavy and all-encompassing like an ocean of stone moving with the speed of the heavens, moving with a singular purpose... To crush all before it to dust. There was no way to avoid or block such an attack so Aaron's Doppelganger faced it head-on, claws unsheathed and teeth bared. The Doppelganger sneered and thrust its clawed hand forward like a knife at the same moment the immense attack landed. At that moment a deep, reverberating boom filled the air and a blinding flash of ivory colored light momentarily obscured everything at ground zero of the attack. Enormous red cracks formed in the sky and down the farthest wall in the path of the attack while the ground had literally been ripped open to form a yawning chasm of extraordinary proportions.

When the scene cleared, Aaron's Doppelganger was barely standing, smoke rising from its battered and bloody body but its three attackers weren't about to let it recover its strength. The beautiful Chikushōdō took a step back and disappeared while Shuradō and Tagaidō pressed their attack. Aaron's Doppelganger roared and its face contorted into a hideous mask of fury before it lunged toward the fastly approaching duo of Shuradō and Tagaidō but was halted momentarily by a rain of poisoned needles forming a solid wall more than three feet thick.

Shuradō and Tagaidō on the other hand were not deterred by such an obstacle and leaped through the deadly wall of needles without injury. Both of Shuradō's hands folded back revealing cannons built into each of his wrists as he began firing a series of smoke bombs at the same time his lower jaw unhinged and he let loose a flurry of needles with the occasional kunai mixed in.

Tagaidō who like Shuradō was still airborne when he began his attack struck sideways with his sword while calling out., "Sixth Form - The Sword of Illness!"

The resulting Attack cleaved the air before colliding with its target before they had a chance to evade or mount any sort of counterattack, Numerous deep lacerations erupted all over The Other Aaron's body as his veins distended, his body withered and turned decrepit, his pale skin taking on a sickly yellow hue with flecks of red sweat dotting his emaciated face while his sunken eyes lost their vigor and their once vibrant color quickly faded to a dull milky white. He struggled merely to stay standing while coughing up mouthful after mouthful of black and silver tinged blood.

Landing behind him, Shuradō and Tagaidō instantly turned and rushed into the hazy purple smoke but what greeted them wasn't the weakened enemy they were expecting.

He was unharmed and appeared as he had at the start except that his arms were longer, the skin blackened and his hands were enormous with fingers nearly a foot long and sharp as straight razors which he stabbed in the direction of his two surprised opponents. Tagaidō used his sword to narrowly block the attack but he was still driven back. Shuradō on the other hand wasn't as lucky because the massive claws tore through his reinforced body like tissue paper, sending bits and pieces of him flying everywhere.

Tagaidō glanced over at his fallen comrade... cables, gears and unexploded bombs everywhere but there wasn't much he could do as he had a hard enough time fighting not to be knocked off his feet.

"One Gorilla.," Exhaled Tagaidō, The muscles in his right arm instantly filling with power before they swelled to several times their size followed by his left arm., "Two Gorilla."

Tagaidō leaned into the attack and within a few seconds began to slow to a stop before beginning to press forward, turning his opponents attacks to the side and rushing forward., "Fifth Form - The Sword of Poison!"

Author's Note: Hey There Everyone I Just Wanted To Say Apex Has Reached Another Big Milestone... 3,000 Likes and Counting So Thank You Everyone and I'll Do My Best To Keep The Chapters Rollin'.